You’ve gotten some good activities suggestions so far. But ultimately, you’re going to have to find some exercise you don’t hate. You don’t have to love what you do, but you’ll need something you can at least tolerate and perform while mentally running on auto pilot. As I see it, you need to have some psychological incentive to stick with your program, because on some days, that might be all that keeps you working out.
Also, I think it’d be to your benefit to find a reason YOU want to exercise. Based on your OP, it seems that though your current inspiration came from a TV show, to win praise and end the nagging from your family is one of your real motivations to start exercising. I don’t think this reason is personal enough to make you stick with your program. Focus on how the exercise will improve your body, appearance, or self-esteem, or force you to manage your time better. But don’t externalize your motivation. You’ll have to want this for yourself.
I echo rowrrbazzle’s advice, with emphasis on the first two tips.
You really constrained the possibilities by saying
“incorporating sit-ups and push-ups, can be done in the privacy of one’s own bedroom”.
Sounds like you should do sit-ups and push-ups in your bedroom.
Find something you enjoy doing (or hate less than other things) and get someone to exercise with you. Makes it less boring, and you’ll be less likely to quit. When it’s just you, there are always 100 reasons you can think of to NOT exercise.
I don’t particulary like to either, but I do it. I think I’ve developed an addiction(and thrown out my soda addiction, but I can’t do anything about my need to have Pizza once a week ). I just started out walking and slowely begin running or jogging more and more of my walking route. I don’t always like to, but I do it(Cold weather helps a lot for me because it makes the run more comfortable once you warm up. I also do squats and ab exercises, which I added over time(I started out just jogging). Add exercises/reps/etc as you see fit, and try to make them a habit. It’ll probably take a month or so before you start to see any weight loss, but It’ll happen.
Oh, and drink as much water as you feel you need to. Dehydration is a bad thing.
I sometimes think that “I’m too tired” or “It’ll take time” when it’s time to exercise. Of course, the counters to that could be “I can rest after the workout” or “Sure it will take time, but I’d probably waste it anyway”.
NurseCarmen’s remark notwithstanding, yer fucked. If you don’t mind relaxing your constraints, take Judo. It’s interesting, it’s physical, you get to throw people around, it’s fun. I hate exercising, it is the most boring thing possible, but taking judo made breaking a sweat fun. Plus you’ll be in the presence of supportive people and you’ll have a lot of small obtainable goals to keep you going.
You could try a mix of general calisthenics, and vary the exercises with each workout. For example, try this:
SESSION ONE:
jumping jacks
push-ups
leg raises
do some stretches afterwards
SESSION TWO:
squat thrusts
pull-ups
crunches
do some stretches afterwards
And maybe on day 1 you do session 1 in the morning and session 2 in the evening, and on day 2 you do session 2 in the morning and session 1 in the evening. Of course if you can’t do pull-ups you can maybe do something like “good mornings” which works a different muscle group (lower back) but doesn’t require a lot of strength or extra equipment.
I agree however that if your motivation is not personal enough, you’re not going to be likely to stick with it for very long anyway.
Spent a big pile of money on a Lifecycle elliptical trainer.
Get a Discman or an MP3 player, or set it up near a TV or stereo.
Go and use the elliptical trainer regularly.
It works for me. The pounds are coming off and I’m looking better. I hate exercising, always have, but I sort of enjoy my time on the ellipticals - and that is absolutely the one and only exercise machine or technique I can say that about (unless you count playing sports and stuff.) It’s a fantastic and low-impact way to burn calories; the elliptical trainers are unquestionably the best exercise equipment I’ve ever used, assuming you’re mostly looking for weight loss/cardio fitness and just a little bit of muscle definition. And having TV to watch or a radio to listen to makes an enormous difference, believe me.
There’s no way to do that many pushups that won’t hurt like hell. Sorry, but pushups and situps hurt, and there’s no way around it.
Get a torso track. The KMarts in town were closing, so I snagged one for about twenty bucks. It seems to be better than doing sit ups and you can really feel it.
If you have doubts, find a store that has a display model and do about 10 reps.
Treadmill is not a bad idea. I hate to exercise also and I’ve already logged over 100 miles on the treadmill. (and boy am I tired, ba dum dum!)
I’d agree with RickJay with the exception that I prefer to use the gym’s elliptical trainer.
I go there 4-5 days a week, and based on the price of a quality machine vs. my membership fee, I figure it would take me five years to break even if I bought one.
I agree that the elliptical trainer is the best. It is better on your body than a bike or a treadmill. My doc turned me on to it after I started having leg problems from running. You get a great workout and you don’t feel any impact in your joints.
It’s simple math: burn 300-400 calories a day on one of these machines (easy to do in < 30 minutes) and you have already increased your average daily calorie usage (~2500 for males) by a substantial fraction. This will allow dietary changes to have a more profound effect, and your heart will be happier.
Know what I like about the gym? I can look at the girls. All of the walls are mirrored, so I can nonchalantly check everyone out as I exercise, while listening to my favorite music.
That’s something else good about exercising: I feel that exercise is less distracting than most other activities, so I can really enjoy the music I listen to.
The elliptical trainer is good, but the cross-trainer is better, cause it gets your arms into the mix. Cross country skiers are in the best aerobic shape of any group of athletes out there because they work with their arms as well as their legs.
It’s not sufficient to just hold on to the arm handles, though–you have to actually push and pull with some force. No lie, your distance is going to suck at first, but keep it up, and you’ll get in good shape.
There’s another thing you should know, although you probably won’t like hearing it. If you’re not motivated enough to do something hard, unpleasant, and effective, you’re not motivated enough to get results. Break out of your comfort zone, work your ass off, take the time to learn what works, and you’ll get what you want.
Make sure to bring a knife in case you have to cut your arm off.
WeRSauron, listen to the advice in this thread. Pushups and situps aren’t going to cut it. To lose weight and, more importantly, get your cardiovascular system in shape, you have to elevate your heart rate for a non-trivial period, say 20 minutes, on a regular basis, say at least every other day. Otherwise all you’re doing is building muscles underneath the flab. Maybe that’s okay if you want to look like a bouncer or a lumberjack, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what you had in mind.
WeRSauronWhat exactly is your goal?
Losing fat? Then you’ll have to sweat. No two ways about it.
Looking muscular (emphasis on the looking)? Then you’ll do low-rep high-mass weight lifting.
Flexibility and Strength? Yoga.
Cardiovascular endurance? Running and cycling.
Having fun? Play a team sport.
Getting encouragement? Sign up for a class of any kind.
Staying confined to your room and exercising in secret? Buy a mat pilates video and follow along.
Bike/walk/rollerblade/whatever to work/school/wherever. Good work-out, saves money. I find that wokring out in a gym has little motivation. “Having to get to work” is a good motiviation.
). I just started out walking and slowely begin running or jogging more and more of my walking route. I don’t always like to, but I do it(Cold weather helps a lot for me because it makes the run more comfortable once you warm up. I also do squats and ab exercises, which I added over time(I started out just jogging). Add exercises/reps/etc as you see fit, and try to make them a habit. It’ll probably take a month or so before you start to see any weight loss, but It’ll happen.